Objections to its composition notwithstanding, the Presidential Investigation Panel on Compliance of the Armed Forces with Human Rights Obligations is pushing ahead with its task. The Panel which was inaugurated August 11th, 2017 by the then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has announced its schedule for public sitting, a crucial component of the process with respect to empirical and dialogic evidence in relations to claims of violations.
A statement by Mallam Suleiman Haliru, its Secretary, puts hearing in the North Central for 11th to 15th of September, 2017 at the Ceremonial Hall of Federal Capital Territory High Court, Tigress Crescent, Opposite Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city. The panel has subsequently invited all stakeholders, affected persons, institutions and interested members of the public to defend their memoranda or make presentations at the Public Hearing which would commence from 10 a.m. daily.
The statement drew attention to the Terms of Reference of the Panel which stretches from review of extant rules of engagement applicable to the Armed Forces of Nigeria and the extent of compliance thereto; investigating alleged acts of violation of international humanitarian and human right law under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Geneva Conventions Act, African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcements) Act and other relevant laws by the Armed Forces in local conflicts and insurgencies; investigating matters of conduct and discipline in the Armed Forces in local conflicts and insurgencies; recommending means of preventing violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in conflict situations as well as any further recommendations the panel might deem necessary in the context of these terms.
